His singing voice has lost some of its luster and his wing kicks don’t have near the height they used to, but 80-year-old Arthur Duncan has still got it.

The tap-dancing star of “The Lawrence Welk Show” is the best thing about “A Welk Family Christmas,” a holiday variety show that opened Friday at the Welk Resorts Theatre in Escondido.

The two-hour production, a high-energy mix of songs, dancing and holiday cheer, re-creates the look, sound and wholesome content of the long-running television show.

The ambitious dance numbers designed by director/choreographer Cheryl Baxter looked good on opening night, but several of the songs performed by the cast’s eight-member ensemble were under-rehearsed.

Fortunately, Duncan and fellow “Welk Show” veteran Mary Lou Metzger, who anchor the Escondido production, are seasoned pros, and their preparation and comfort onstage put the audience both at ease and in a festive mood.

Duncan, a regular on the Welk TV show from 1964 to 1982, can still tap like a man half his age, though he addresses the effects of time head-on with the audience in a series of amusing one-liners: “I bet you thought I was going to be lousy,” “this opportunity is killing me” and “I could go on for hours, but the orchestra is tired.”

His midshow 20-minute set, which includes the songs “If You Feel Like Singing, Sing” and “What a Wonderful World,” is easily the show's high point.

Metzger was best known on Welk’s TV show for dancing with the maestro at the end of each telecast, but she’s also an accomplished singer and tap dancer. Her high-kicking song-and-dance solo “I Wanna Be a Rockette” charmed the mostly senior audience, and she also sings “May You Always” to a video of scenes from the TV show (a helpful aid for showgoers under 60 who may have never heard of Welk).

The show’s eight ensemble singer/dancers are all enthusiastic dancers and there are several vocal standouts in the bunch. Sweet-voiced Joseph Almohaya has some fine ballads, including “Merry Christmas, Darling.” The singularly named Yvonne offers some fun audience interaction with “Santa Baby,” and there’s a lively comic duet, “Santa’s Red Hat,” by Lucas Coleman and Nicole Renee Chapman.